Andrew Neill Vollmer (born August 14, 1953) is an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

. He retired as partner in the securities department at law firm

WilmerHale Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, also known as WilmerHale, is an American multinational law firm with offices in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Co-headquartered in Washington, D.C., and Boston, it was formed in 2004 through the m ...

. Prior to April 2009, he had been Deputy General Counsel for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Securities and Exchange Commission The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...

(SEC) and acting

General Counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

. He succeeded Meyer Eisenberg as Deputy General Counsel, who retired from the Commission in early January 2006 and former General Counsel Brian Cartwright who left the Commission for the private sector in January 2009.

Education

Mr. Vollmer received his J.D. in 1978 from the

University of Virginia School of Law The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 as part of his "academical village", and now ...

, where he served as Notes Editor of the

Virginia Law Review The ''Virginia Law Review'' is a law review edited and published by students at University of Virginia School of Law. It was established on March 15, 1913, and permanently organized later that year. The stated objective of the ''Virginia Law Revi ...

. He earned his B.A. from

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

Before the SEC

He was previously a partner in the international law firm of

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, also known as WilmerHale, is an American multinational law firm with offices in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Co-headquartered in Washington, D.C., and Boston, it was formed in 2004 through the m ...

LLP where he served as Vice Chair of the firm's Securities Department and previously served as one of two partners managing the firm's

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

office. He is co-author of a monograph on "Internal Corporate Investigations."

Tenure at SEC

As acting General Counsel, Vollmer was quickly thrust into the news media's attention as he testified on February 4, 2009 before the

United States House Committee on Financial Services The United States House Committee on Financial Services, also referred to as the House Banking Committee and previously known as the Committee on Banking and Currency, is the United States congressional committee, committee of the United States ...

subcommittee with SEC Director of the Division of Enforcement Linda Thomsen and other senior staff from the SEC and the

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is a private American corporation that acts as a self-regulatory organization (SRO) that regulates member brokerage firms and exchange markets. FINRA is the successor to the National Associati ...

(FINRA). The subject of the hearings were on why the SEC had failed to act when

Harry Markopolos Harry M. Markopolos (born October 22, 1956) is an American forensic accounting and financial fraud investigator and former securities industry executive best known for discovering Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme in the early to mid-2000s. From 1 ...

, a private fraud investigator from Boston alerted the Securities and Exchange Commission detailing his persistent and unsuccessful efforts to get the SEC to investigate

Bernard L. Madoff Bernard Lawrence Madoff ( ; April 29, 1938April 14, 2021) was an American financial criminal and financier who was the admitted mastermind of the largest known Ponzi scheme in history, worth an estimated $65 billion. He was at one time ...

, beginning in 1999. Vollmer claimed

executive privilege Executive privilege is the right of the president of the United States and other members of the executive branch to maintain confidential communications under certain circumstances within the executive branch and to resist some subpoenas and ot ...

in declining to answer some questions, and Vollmer and the other SEC officials' lack of cooperation with the enquiry was strongly criticised by Subcommittee chairman

Paul Kanjorski Paul Edmund Kanjorski (born April 2, 1937) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for from 1985 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district included the cities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, and Hazleton, ...

and Representative Gary Ackerman. On 18 February 2009, 14 days later, the SEC announced that Vollmer would 'leave the Commission and return to the private sector'. It was later announced that he would take up a post with his former firm, WilmerHale.

References

External links

Written testimony (not a transcript)

Video of Congressman Gary Ackerman questioning Andy Vollmer, SEC Acting General Counsel on claiming Executive Privilege
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vollmer, Andy 1953 births Living people American lawyers University of Virginia School of Law alumni Miami University alumni Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr partners